Trump administration

President Donald Trump wants the top U.S. corporate tax rate cut to 15 percent, as well as tax relief for middle-income Americans, he told the Wall Street Journal. The president also indicated a willingness to increase some taxes on rich Americans. But those cuts risk adding to the deficit over the next ten years. And […]

The International Monetary Fund on Monday downgraded its estimate of U.S. growth prospects. Only three months ago, the world financial body said it thought U.S. gross domestic product would grow by 2.3 percent this year and 2.5 percent next year. Now, it’s lowered its estimates to 2.1 percent. That’s bad news for the economy and […]

This week, the House of Representatives detailed a 2018 budget plan, a first step toward a tax code overhaul. But it’ll be no small lift to get to the big corporate tax cut President Trump has promised. The administration wants to lower corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 15 percent. That’s going to be […]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a shot across the bow of congressional Republicans in the form of a not-so-subtle message — don’t screw up tax cuts like you did health care reform, or else. Its letter explained that a year from now, the Chamber will be evaluating candidates based on their support for a “free […]

We haven’t seen much in wage gains out of recent jobs reports from the Labor Department. The most recent one, for June, showed average hourly wages, as reported by employers, up just 2.5 percent over the past year, not much better than inflation. But another measure of income from the Labor Department, based on a […]

In a bid to avoid the legislative fiasco that was the attempt at Obamacare repeal, the GOP has tried to take a more deliberate approach to its next big priority — tax reform. The White House said it has held “hundreds of listening sessions” on the topic, and Politico reports that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and […]

Tax reform is like health care reform in at least one important way: If Republicans want to pass it without Democrats, they can’t raise the deficit too much over the long term. But tax experts who have analyzed the GOP’s main proposals say they would add trillions of dollars to the deficit.  Click the audio […]